National Police Misconduct Newsfeed Daily Recap 11-20-12 to 11-21-12

*Note* This is the recap for both Tuesday and and Wednesday as I was out of the office Wednesday.
Here are the 23 reports of police misconduct tracked for Tuesday, November 20 to Wednesday, November 21, 2012:

Newark, New Jersey: The ACLU says police have reached a settlement with a teenager [Khaliah Fitchette, 17] who was handcuffed and detained for phone video. The teen says police [officers Noemi Maloon, Lloyd Thomas] illegally seized her phone and deleted a video from it. http://ow.ly/frucK

Asheville, North Carolina: An officer [Aubrey Gerrand Green, 27] has been charged with misdemeanor child abuse after investigators found bruises on a child after a spanking. The arrest warrant states that the officer is not the child’s father. http://ow.ly/fpBLU [child's mohter, Maggie Nicole Jones, 22, is also charged]

Glasgow, Kentucky: The sheriff [Chris Eaton] who is facing federal civil rights violations has been indicted on additional counts of excessive force and falsifying documents. He is facing 13 counts; his term as sheriff ends in December. http://ow.ly/fpCJG

Washington Township, New Jersey: An officer [Joseph DiBuonaventura] is facing charges of committing official misconduct, submitting a false report to law enforcement, harassment and tampering with public records. “At some point the decision will be made to see if he stays on [the force,]” said the police captain. He also said that the officer was required to turn in his badge, all police equipment and is not to identify himself as a law enforcement officer. http://ow.ly/fpXls [false arrest of Assemblyman Paul Moriarty for DWI]

Lee County, Florida: After an internal investigation revealed that he stole merchandise from a Publix store while in uniform, an officer [Deputy Andrew Sargis] was fired. He then lied about stealing the items because “I was afraid of being labeled a thief.” http://ow.ly/fpJlT

Eastpointe, Michigan: A detective [Timothy Stopczynski] has been charged in the theft and exchanging of tires, slot machines, watches, and other items from a police forfeiture shed for drugs and money. He was a 14 year veteran, and resigned during the investigation. http://ow.ly/fpTQF

Greeley, Colorado: A police officer [Shaun Kelly] has been charged with a class four felony theft for allegedly falsifying his time sheets. http://ow.ly/fpWyk

Broward County, Florida: An officer [Lazaro Mesa] is again accused of falsifying official documents. He faces a felony count of official misconduct, a misdemeanor count of falsifying public records, and two counts of petty theft. The charges are punishable by up to 6 years behind bars. “We do our best to weed out people that we don’t think are worthy of wearing a badge and being in law enforcement,” said the Sheriff. “Those that betray the public trust shouldn’t be working here. This isn’t the first, of numerous times, where internally we’ve done our job to weed those people out only to have them return due to binding arbitration and the ruling of an arbitrator.” http://ow.ly/fpX0d

McLeod County, Minnesota: A deputy [Mark Eischens] has been indicted by a grand jury in relation to a shooting incident. He was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings. http://ow.ly/fpFtP [victim: Harry Lee Ondracek, 58]

Piedmont, Oklahoma: An officer [Ken Qualls] who wrote a $2,500 ticket to a mother [Ashley Warden] on a public urination complaint against her three-year-old son has been fired. http://ow.ly/fs2VX

New Orleans, Louisiana: An officer [Maurice Palmer] has been charged with federal tax evasion. He didn’t file tax returns for three years, and, in all, he took $68,000 from the federal government. http://ow.ly/fs3s

Huntsville, Alabama: The city council [Brett Russell] has agreed to pay $22,500 to a victim of excessive force. The man [Gary Wayne Hopkins] was beaten after being taken into custody. The officer involved in the beating lost his job after the incident. http://ow.ly/fs3It

Uvalde County, Texas: A police officer [Jason Villasana, 35] was arrested for allegedly possessing and promoting child pornography. He was immediately fired after the arrest. ow.ly/fs4yg

Update: Pocahontas County, West Virginia: More claims have been filed against a deputy saying [Bradley C. Totten] that he used his position to exert influence over a woman for sex. http://ow.ly/frriA [civil rights suit filed by Jessica Roberts; also accused of 58 counts of sex-related crimes against eight women, including Teressa Schoolcraft]

Saratoga Springs, New York: A city police officer has been charged with misdemeanor 3rd degree assault. The charges stem from a bar fight. The officer, has been suspended without pay since the incident, along with two other officers. http://ow.ly/frikp

Rock Hill, South Carolina: An officer [Sammy Figueroa, 28] was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. He failed field sobriety tests, and is now on procedural suspension. http://ow.ly/fq00v

Rogers City, Michigan: A former officer [Daniel John Kulik, 40] pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors resulting from an investigation into his activities during his time in the department. He pleaded guilty to carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle, interfering with a crime report and willful neglect of duty by a public officer. http://ow.ly/frdJA

Martinsville, Virginia: The second in command at the sheriff’s office [Chief Deputy Laura Hopkins] is on leave after being charged with a DWI. She is on administrative leave and disciplinary sanctions are being taken. http://ow.ly/frei1

Chicago, Illinois: An officer [Johnathan M. Maynard, 34] was fired for working as a bouncer at a nightclub, and participating in a “lube wrestling event,” while on convalescent-duty status. http://ow.ly/frfsn

New Haven, Connecticut: A Yale University football player [Jordan Jefferson] is suing the police, saying that he was seriously injured when they used a taser on him during a nightclub raid. The police chief said that an assistant chief, who is now retired, was supervising the operation and lost control of the inspection. “It was poor planning, poor decision making and poor leadership,” he said. “I take full responsibility and the department learned some valuable lessons.” ow.ly/fs47h

Jacksonville, Florida: A detective [Sam Koivisto] has resigned after making threats directed toward the president. The secret service is now investigating the incident. ow.ly/fs3Wo

District Heights, Maryland: The FBI raided a family’s [Emory Hughley] home and shot at an 18-year-old gir [Myasia Hughleyl. No one in the home had a gun. The FBI has only said that agents from the Baltimore field office were there exercising a search warrant and shots were fired. Neighbors in the quiet neighborhood heard the gunfire and were stunned. There have never been any problems at the home. http://ow.ly/frqep

Pascagoula, Tennessee: A grand jury has indicted the commander [Sgt. Jackie Trussell] of the Narcotics Task Force on a charge of misdemeanor simple assault. The charge comes from a shooting. “The shooting at the task force office was disappointing. As law enforcement officers, we are held to a higher standard. The laws should apply to us as well as anybody else in the community. We should all be held accountable for out actions,” said the police chief. http://ow.ly/fq291 [victim: Deputy Chad Powell]